Shiny Big Rock
by Speedy1236
Summary: Sonic racks his brain about the sense of life for a certain red echidna... What can a giant piece of stone mean?


**Shiny Big Rock**

I jumped down and landed gently rolling on my shoulder, leaped back to my feet with the usual speed and turned around, waving my hand at Tails. He waved back as he flew past me, piloting his plane back into the clouds. He was heading for a meeting of some group of technicians; he had tried explaining to me what they were going to talk about, but I didn't get it.

But since Tails had been flying anyway, I had decided to ask him to drop me up here. Maybe I could pay a visit to another one of my friends. I rarely came up here without a reason, simply because of one certain fact. I can say about me that I can run faster than sound waves can carry your words; my spin can smash through a lot of things and I can jump literally huge distances from a standstill, let alone from a running start. But I can't fly.

And there is no other way to reach this place. I guess that is somehow the idea behind a floating island. And Knuckles invests a hell of a lot of energy into conserving this status quo.

I ran through a small tropically looking forest until I reached the Temple of Chaos. Usually, nobody can put a foot only _near_ that place without suddenly finding himself face-to-face with two suspicious violet eyes. But today, I reached the stairway without spotting anything that looked like a stubborn red echidna.

I stepped up the stairs to the top of the Emerald altar. No Knuckles as far as I could see from up here. I sat down on the ground, leaning my back against one of the half broken pillars.

I could of course go and search the island for him, you can't exactly say that it's particularly big. For someone as fast as me, it is pretty small. But it is tricky territory, even though I've been up here multiple times in the last few years and came to know big parts of it; sometimes I still activate some of the traps.

About half a year ago, I ended up hanging on a dislocated ankle upside-down in a jungle tree, knotted into ropes so that I looked and felt like a package ready for shipping to the other side of Mobius. I was lucky that the inventor of that cruel and deceitful trap found me and got me down again.  
Sometimes searching the deeper jungles and hidden ruins on Angel Island is _really_ tricky.

Normally I found Knuckles at the Temple of Chaos, or he found me. No idea how he always knows where I am. Must be one of these 'guardian of the Master Emerald' things. So I could very well just stay here and wait.

Although I got to admit, waiting isn't one of my strengths. Quite the opposite, normally, it bores me to death within minutes.

I looked up at the Master Emerald, wondering if that is what Knuckles is doing all the time. Sitting here and staring at the shiny big rock. Sure, it is a pretty thing. And it always carries this mysterious touch.

But maybe only to me. What do I know about it? It is big. And green. And controls the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. But what else? Besides that, I know nothing. Only that it needs to be guarded.

I can kinda see why. The past events proved Knuckles right as he says it is in danger.

Okay, then this big piece of glowing crystal needs to be protected. But that doesn't help me understand how he spends his days doing so.

Somehow as these thoughts swam through my head, I almost winced at the realization that I have no idea what my best friend does in his life. Best friend? Yeah, right… If someone had told me a few years ago, when we first met, that one day I would call that stubborn, short-tempered and sometimes naïve guy a friend, let alone a _best_ friend, I would have send him to see a psychiatrist. But things change. Tails is my brother. And as much as he is my brother, Knuckles is my best friend. Weird…

So, he is guarding that Master Emerald then. Nice….

Then, what do you do as a guardian? As long as there are actually enemies around who want to steal or destroy it, the sense of that task is pretty much clear. Fight them and stop them from taking the Emerald. So far I get that.

But what do you do in the times when no greedy, sparkling-addicted bats or crazed scientists with a weakness for robots and self-founded empires come around and no angry monsters escape from inside the stone? What then?

You can't just … sit here, can you?

I stood up again and walked around the huge gemstone one time, regarding it. Nice. Okay, what could I do with it? Maybe carry it around?

I leaned down and grabbed the Emerald with both hands and heaved.

Oompf…. Phew… Geez, Knux, that stone of yours is heavy. Okay, maybe _not _carrying it around.

Hm…

Since no Knuckles _was_ around, I could try that guarding-the-Emerald thing out for a while. I got nothing else to do anyway.

So, if I was the guardian and I had to spend my days with guarding that giant piece of shining stone, what would I do?

Maybe you can use the Emerald as an obstacle for jumping practice. Like a hurdle. I took one step backwards, leaped up, my hands tipping on the top of the Master Emerald, then landed on the other side and spun on my heels to do it again. This is kinda fun.

I stopped after a few repetitions. Although it certainly _was_ fun, just _as_ certainly Knuckles wouldn't hop over his Emerald, would he? I stepped backwards again, running my fingers through my blue spikes, my eyes wandering over the sparkling surface of the Master Emerald. Somehow I just couldn't imagine that Knuckles was doing something like _that_.

Perhaps I simply don't take this serious enough. Maybe you have to sit here and look at it and then something happens.

I sat down against the pillar again, my hands crossed in my neck, and glanced up at the glowing Emerald. The sunlight reflected itself on the facets, creating small colourful stripes on the corners that mixed up with the omnipresent glow of the Master Emerald.

A glow that really had something special. Although I was staring at it for minutes now, the bright light didn't blind me in the slightest. It was soft and staring at it like that sure had something … relaxing. A pretty green light… sparkling and ... twinkling … and ... glowing…

I snapped awake again when my chin sank on my chest. _Hell, Sonic, you planned on trying to guard that thing!_

After all, this was an experiment to understand what Knuckles sees in guarding that Emerald. And everything _I_ found out so far is that you can jump over it (but that doesn't seem like a thing a guardian should do) and that staring at it for longer periods of time is as good as sleeping pills.

I stood up and folded my arms. _Perfect Sonic. The studies are going just great._

Unlike me, somehow, Knuckles doesn't seem to get bored by this. Considering that he's been doing this his entire life … I guess that might be a reason. He's used to this. Maybe he also has qualities this job acquires I quite certainly lack. Patience. The ability to sit on your tail.

Knuckles actually seems to enjoy this in a way. Not with the exited anticipation I feel before a good fight and not with the exhilaration I feel when I'm running. It is something … different.

Once he said, I don't really remember when and in which context, he said it was all he got. I'm not sure if he meant the Emerald, the island, his duty to guard these things or something else and completely different. But I think he got more than a giant shining gem. He has got friends! Tails and me, the Chaotix… Right?

Sure, he has gotten a lot more relaxed on this whole Emerald thing than he has been a few years ago. I guess alone the sheer _idea_ of leaving it unguarded would have … driven him crazy or something.

Maybe that's the reason why he can sit here and guard it _without _getting bored out of his skull. It means something, no, it means the _world_ to him.

I looked over at the Master Emerald again, suddenly noticing that I've been walking around it all the time, circling it like a blue spiked planet a big green sun. I didn't even realize that I started pacing around. But – that's something I do often, everytime I have to wait for something or just stay at one place without anything concrete to do; I gotta start some kind of movement. Tapping a foot, throwing up things and juggling with them – or walk around glowing oversized crystals.

Glancing down on the ground I found that the floor was plain and showed not the tiniest traces of footprints. I think if I would keep on walking like I did the last minutes for a few days, you could very well see my path on the rocky ground. What means Knuckles doesn't do _this_ either.

I stopped pacing and once again glanced at the Emerald. Geez, I'm standing right in front of the most important thing in Knuckles' life and all I found out so far is - to put it bluntly - big crap.

Maybe because I'm no echidna, I'm lacking the sense for that kind of thing. Knuckles has such a sense. And he cares a lot about that lifeless piece of stone.

My eyes were dragged deeper into the glow. Lifeless…? It somehow _is_ crystallized Chaos Energy, right? At least it is not dead, to Knuckles, it certainly isn't.

I still remember the day when we brought it back here after we had all returned from Space Colony Ark. When he rested it back down on this shrine here, held his hands on it and – smiled.

Although this has been also improving a lot lately, Knuckles rarely smiles without a reason.

And it was quite a special smile. It was like the smile he sometimes has when Tails and I just drop in to say hi and we catch him on a good day. It's a smile that tells: 'Hey, I didn't expect you to come along and get on my nerves, but I'm glad to see you anyway.' It's that smile that says: 'I'm your buddy although I'm too proud and stubborn to admit and say aloud.'

... That's the best thing to compare it to, I guess.

Even though it was more about it. Maybe that's also this 'being-home'idea. Another concept that will always remain a mystery to me. Home… is described as the place you live at, are familiar with and like to stay at. If that's it, my home is the entire planet (if you count a handful of places with water out … I simply hate the wet stuff!).

But for Knuckles, 'home' only refers to Angel Island. Once I was used to think he could put that Emerald of his into a safe vault and then have the freedom to go wherever he wants.

I looked at the Master Emerald again. Okay, it _is_ too pretty to lock in a dark room with thick iron walls.

And somehow I think Knuckles wouldn't like that way of life. Sure, he does travel sometimes and he even seems to have fun doing so. But then, he always comes back here. After all, this is his home and he's got an Emerald to guard here.

I rubbed my left ear and frowned. This still is a mystery. All of this. And I wonder if I will ever get through it… Sigh…

Hearing footsteps on the stairs behind, I turned around over my shoulder and saw Knuckles climbing up the stairs, his red fur clinging wetly to his skin. Looked like he had been swimming or taking a bath somewhere.

He looked at me irritatedly, clearly surprised to see me here. "Sonic?"

"Hi Knux." I smiled as he stepped to my side.

"Err… Hi. Just what the heck are you doing here?"

"Basically, paying you a friendly visit. More concrete I was … trying something out."

Knuckles frowned. "Here."

I nodded. "Yes. Here. It was kind of an … experiment?"

"What about?"

I tilted my head, shooting a brief glance at the Master Emerald. "Oh, I was just … thinking, I guess."

Knuckles raised his eyebrows. "Thinking. You."

I just nodded in response.

"Fine, thinking." The echidna smirked. "Who would have guessed that. Sonic the Hedgehog is using his brain. And not only to try and find a way how to break his neck today. I'm impressed." Knuckles looked me up and down. "Did your – _thinking_ - come to a conclusion? Or do you need to finish? Then I could…" He gestured vaguely to where he had come from.

I looked at him in surprise. "You would let me stay here to – think?"

Knuckles shrugged. "It's a good place for that. And honestly," a grin crossed his face as he continued teasingly, "having you _thinking_ is a rather rare pleasure. I gotta motivate that."

I snorted, but gave him a friendly thump with my elbow. Then I shook my head. "No. Stay. I think I got as far as I possibly could. I was starting to run in circles. Literally."

Knuckles quirked an eye ridge. "That's what you usually do."

I wasn't really listening to his mocking remark; I looked at the Master Emerald again. "I guess I'll never get behind it…", I mumbled thoughtfully.

"Huh?" Knuckles stared at me quizzically, then at his Emerald and back at me.

I glanced into his puzzled face. At least I'm not the only one who's got such an understanding problem. "Forget it." I finally grinned as I shrugged off my thoughts. "Do you have something important to do?"

Knuckles smiled. "What are you thinking of?"

My grin broadened. "A race? One lap as usually?"

The echidna rolled his eyes in played annoyance. "Why did I ask?" But then he smirked. "I get to use the shortcuts. And the gliding."

I nodded. "Just fair."

He nodded back when we both stepped down to the bottom of the stairway and crouched down aside of each other, shoulders almost touching. "This time you lose, hedgehog."

"In your dreams!" I locked my gaze with his violet eyes, sparkling at me in excitement, stubborn rivalry, the absolute will to win and a small hint of friendship that tells to take the first ones not too serious. But somehow we are both having a competitive streak. I smiled as I read his eyes. Maybe I know Knuckles much better than I realized so far.

I lowered my head and narrowed my eyes. "Ready when you are. Gotta do your best Knux, I'm flash!"

The echidna smiled. "I'm having a home-bonus. You'll need more than speed to win, Sonic."

"We'll see about that!" I grinned at him challengingly, then we both got into starting position.

"Ready, steady aaaand …. **GO**!"


End file.
